Cost of Coggins, teeth and sheaths?

I'm a new horse owner and have to have the vet out this month for a check up. I know he'll need his Coggins, teeth, and sheath cleaned. How much would this typically cost. Also, what types of vaccines will the vet do, and are there ones I do myself?My horse is a 14 year old Warmblood gelding. Please add anything else you think is important to know about.

Cost of Coggins, teeth and sheaths?
Hi Johanna, I'd guess about $150 - $250, probably in the upper end of that. He should have rabies, west nile, flu vaccines, and I think there is one more, but pretty much just tell your vet you'd like to do routine vaccinations and they can fill you in on the different ones and what you need done. It cost me $75 for a coggins and vaccinations, but the economy is lower where I live. I think there are vaccinations you can administer yourself but I'd recommend you have the vet do it this time. You can have him/her show you how to do it and they can tell you about any vaccinations you can do and how to get them, etc. These are some sites about administering vaccines yourself: http://equisearch.com/horses_care/health... and this page doesn't recommend it so you may want to hear what it says http://www.practical-pet-care.com/horse_... You also can clean the sheath by yourself. Here are some sites if you ever decide to do so: http://equisearch.com/horses_care/health... and http://www.equusite.com/articles/health/... and http://iceryder.net/sheath/ Depending on your horse, he may not need his teeth done often at all. You will also need to worm your horse about every three months. Hope it all works out!
Reply:Coggins tests are done if you are buying a horse out of state. If you need to know the cost, it is around $56. Generally vets don't clean horse's teeth unless there is a specific reason for doing so. Your horse, though I'm not familiar with him/her may need it's teeth floated (a vet term meaning to grind the sharp edges off the horses teeth) which if it is needed will cost proably around $165. Because you are a new horse owner and I assume this is your first horse, I would suggest letting the vet give your horse all the injections needed. The types of injections given are: West Nile (twice a year), I have forgotten if this injection is $33 or $10 a pop; both Eastern and Western Sleeping Sickness which is usually given along with another injection in the form of a three way "or" a four way injection (meaning either 3 or 4 types of injections are given in one dose); Td (Tetanus and Diptheria injection) and the frequently forgotten injection, Rabies. Some people try to claim that horses don't get Rabies. This is a myth. Any animal on the face of this earth can get Rabies. There is a new alert that is starting to surface, even though the virus has been around for a long time that you might ask the vet about. I'm getting mixed messages. One moment I hear that there is an injection that is now available and then I also read that this injection does not do any good for the Herpes Virus that affects the nervous system. To play it safe, you might want to say each of the injections run $35. You should have some injection money left by doing this because not all injections run this high. You have a minumum of two wormers that you need to give your horse about every two to three months. Your vet will advise you on this. As for cleaning the sheath, the doctor may show you how to do it or again he may say it is fine.





Since your horse is 14 years old, you might want to ask the vet which type of feed you should feed your horse.





You have foot care that the vet does not do that you need to have done every 6 weeks. This is hoof trimming. This generally costs about $40 for large horses. This excludes the shoeing which I would not recommend. If you get a blacksmith/farriar, he/she may try to convince you shoeing (bar shoeing) is a life saver on horse's hooves. This is not necessarily true. It has been found that horses do better bare footed and if the horse needs shoes, you can buy some Old Mac Hoof Boots (a polyurethane hoof boot that goes on and off the hoof as needed) for the horse. These run you about $170 for two boots (if this sounds expensive to you, bar shoeing runs close to $100 every six weeks).





Above mentioned are the major part of your horse's upkeep. There are other things that come along that vary from horse to horse that you will be consulting your vet about as time goes on.
Reply:Coggins are anywhere from $35- $60, depending on where you go. I have paid a range of figures in the same state, so who knows. I think that might be how far away from the lab they have to send it, or how many they send, since a larger clinic had a cheaper price. They are good up until Dec 31st of that year, no matter when you got them.





Teeth- they suggest every 6 months, but I do every year -2 yrs. With your horse being a little older, I would probably get them check every year or so. Dental work cost anywhere from $100+ depending on how much sedation your horse needs and how bad the teeth are. If you need to actually float them, I think it is around $200ish. If you just need to file the points, it is rounghly $80-100 including sedation.


Sheath cleaning- you can do that yourself if your horse is quieter. Some are good, some need sedation. Get some mild unscented soap or even horse shampoo and scrub away. I am not sure what the vet costs are for this.


Vaccines usually give in March or so: 5 or 6 way, Rabies, and West nile are the minimum I suggestion. There is also a strangles, and potomac fever. I usually don't give the last two because they are easily treatable and the strangles vaccine is not that effective (internasal or injection) and we had a horse with potomac fever and they got over it right away w/ meds. Still is pretty rare though.


For if you can give them yourself- as long as you know how to give shots correctly, you can give everything but rabies yourself. It really cuts down on costs. Do not attempt if no one showed you how to give a shot- you can kill your horse if done incorrectly.


You also need to worm your horse regularly. There are several options. You can either do a daily wormer, like strongid (I think that is it, white container with green top), which is a pelleted form, but can get expensive. Or you can go for the tube wormers which is a 2-3 month rotation. I usually do 2 in the spring/summer/fall, and 3 months in the winter. You rotate with ivermectin, pyrantel, and an all in one (such as equimax). The equimax you want to give in March/April and Sept/Oct. The other ones you can rotate around it. The vet may have a different rotation for your area, since it changes in various parts of the US depending on the parasite prevalence. Just ask them about it.
Reply:Your best way to find out this information is to call the vet and ask him/her. The cost will depend greatly on where you live as well as what vaccinations the vet administers which will also depend on where you live. I personally live in South Arkansas, and my yearly coggins and vaccinations run about $60 per horse. I have their teeth checked but have not had to have anything done to them as of yet. The sheath cleaning is something that you can do yourself. There are no telling how many books that describe the particulars of it. If you're not one of the people that can read something, then apply it find an experience horse person and ask them how, or ask the vet. That needs to be done more than once a year.
Reply:Coggins will run around $30 and if you need a health certificate some vets will charge anywhere from free to $30 for that, too. To have his teeth floated will depend upon the type of equipment used and how much sedative, if any, your horse will need, but expect around $150. I've never had a horse's sheath cleaned by a vet--typically this is something you can do yourself but I would guess perhaps another $30 or so. Your horse will need a 4-way vaccine which includes rhino. Your vet may also suggest West nile Virus, Rabies, and/or Strangles vaccines, depending on where you live. You can give the 4-way yourself--buy it from your vet or online, but you MUST give it intermuscular. If you are unsure of how to give an intermuscular shot have your vet show you the first time. If you get a vein you can kill your horse or make him very sick.





If he has never had any shots before he will have to have his initial shots and then a booster.





The other shots have to be given to you by a vet. Some will want to do the vaccinations themselves and others will let you do it. In some states vets MUST give the rabies vaccines themselves.





If your horse isn't already on a regular deworming program speak to your vet about that as well.